Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Ninth Make for Christmas - Mincemeat Cake

Today's make is anther bake, it is adapted from a recipe in 'What's Cooking on St Helena' a recipe book that as far as I am aware is not available other than on the island. It is full of classic 'Saint' dishes as well as a WI-style sensible range of soups, cakes, preserves etc. Most importantly it doesn't include fancy ingredients that you can't get here.

Mincemeat Cake

All the taste of Christmas without any of the fiddling about rolling out pastry. A great alternative if you haven't made a traditional Christmas cake.

Difficulty: As Easy Peasy as you can possibly get. If you can switch on the oven, you can make this cake!

Preheat the oven to 160 C / Gas 3. Grease and line the cake tin with baking paper. Beat together the margarine and sugar. Add all the other ingredients except the almonds and beat until blended. Spoon into the tin and smooth the top. Arrange the almonds on top in a manner that pleases you. Bake for about 1 hour 20 mins until golden and shrinking away from the sides of the tin.

Hello

My name is Eleanor. I am a full time Mum of three delightful, lively, annoying, naughty, lovely Smalls. They are Tall Girl (8), Tiny Boy (6) and Big Trouble (4). We all live together with my lovely husband John in a slightly delapidated Victorian house in a market town in North Northumberland. We have just returned to England after a two year tropical adventure, living on St Helena - a tiny island in the middle of the South Atlantic. I love knitting, crochet, sewing, gardening, baking and have as-yet unfulfilled creative ambitions in the direction of less practical or portable activities... I hope you enjoy my thoughts and ramblings about all these things.